Note: Intro -- Foreword -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Contributors -- 1: Introduction to Atmospheric Rivers -- 1.1 A Brief History of AR Science -- 1.1.1 The 1970s -- 1.1.2 The 1980s -- 1.1.3 The 1990s -- 1.1.4 The 2000s -- AR Impacts: Precipitation, Flooding, and Water Supply -- 1.1.5 2010 and Beyond -- The California AR Observation Network -- The Forecasting Challenge -- AR Duration Found to Help Modulate AR Impacts -- 1.1.6 ARs and Global Climate Change -- 1.2 Structure of This Book -- References -- 2: Structure, Process, and Mechanism -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Structure of ARs -- 2.2.1 Definition of the Term "Atmospheric River" -- 2.2.2 Water Vapor Transport and the Vertical and Horizontal Structure of ARs -- Direct Observations of Water Vapor Transport -- Observations of Vertical and Horizontal Structure -- Representativeness of Airborne Observations and Typical Range of Key Characteristics -- 2.3 WCBs and TMEs and Their Relationship to ARs -- 2.3.1 Concepts of TMEs, ARs, and WCBs -- 2.3.2 Climatologies -- 2.3.3 Linkages Among the Three Feature Categories -- 2.3.4 Summary -- 2.4 Water Vapor Transport in ARs -- 2.4.1 Moisture Budget During the AR Life Cycle -- 2.4.2 Horizontal and Vertical Moisture Transport and AR Maintenance -- 2.4.3 Methods for Obtaining an AR Water Budget -- 2.4.4 Conclusions, Implications, and Future Directions -- 2.5 ARs and Extratropical Dynamics -- 2.5.1 Mid-Latitude Storm Track and Cyclogenesis -- 2.5.2 Mid-Latitude Cyclones and ARs -- 2.5.3 Linking Extratropical Dynamics to Hydrometeorological Effects -- 2.5.4 Summary -- 2.6 A Case Study Example -- References -- 3: Observing and Detecting Atmospheric Rivers -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Satellite Observations of ARs -- 3.2.1 Microwave Radiometry: SSM/I -- 3.2.2 Radio Occultation: COSMIC. , 3.2.3 Satellite-Based Cloud and Precipitation Radars: CloudSat and GPM -- 3.3 AR Observatories -- 3.3.1 AR Characteristics Not Readily Observed Using Traditional Meteorological Methods -- The Low-Level Jet and the "Controlling Layer" -- Temporal and Horizontal Spatial Scales of ARs Relative to the Operational Radiosonde Network -- Summary of the Gaps -- 3.3.2 ARO Instrumentation -- Doppler Wind Profilers -- Surface Meteorology Towers -- Global Positioning System/Meterology (GPS/ MET) -- 3.3.3 The ARO Water Vapor Flux Tool -- 3.3.4 The US West Coast ARO "Picket Fence" -- 3.4 Network Observations: Monitoring ARs over California -- 3.4.1 AR Observatories (AROs) -- 3.4.2 Snow-Level Radar -- 3.4.3 Integrated Water Vapor (GPS/MET) -- 3.4.4 Soil Moisture -- 3.5 Field Campaigns and Experiments -- 3.5.1 CALJET -- 3.5.2 PACJET -- 3.5.3 HMT -- 3.5.4 Ghost Nets -- 3.5.5 CalWater-1 -- 3.5.6 WISPAR -- 3.5.7 CalWater-2 -- 3.5.8 ENRR and SHOUT -- 3.5.9 NAWDEX -- 3.5.10 AR Reconnaissance -- 3.5.11 Synthesis of Airborne Cross-Sections Across ARs into a Composite of AR Structure and TIVT -- 3.6 ARs in Reanalyses -- 3.7 AR Identification -- References -- 4: Global and Regional Perspectives -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Global Climatology -- 4.2.1 AR Detection Method and Justification -- 4.2.2 AR Frequency and IVT -- 4.2.3 AR Landfall Frequency -- 4.2.4 AR Duration -- 4.2.5 AR Precipitation Fraction -- 4.2.6 Seasonality -- 4.2.7 Summary of Sect. 4.2 -- 4.3 Climate Modulation -- 4.3.1 El Niño-Southern Oscillation -- 4.3.2 Madden-Julian Oscillation -- 4.3.3 Arctic Oscillation -- 4.3.4 Pacific/North American Pattern -- 4.3.5 Summary of Sect. 4.3 -- 4.4 ARs along the North American West Coast -- 4.4.1 Summary of Sect. 4.4 -- 4.5 Inland-Penetrating ARs Over the Western United States -- 4.5.1 Summary of Sect. 4.5. , 4.6 ARs in the Southeastern US -- 4.6.1 Summary of Sect. 4.6 -- 4.7 Europe -- 4.7.1 Summary of Sect. 4.7 -- 4.8 Southern South America -- 4.8.1 Summary of Sect. 4.8 -- 4.9 ARs in the Polar Regions -- 4.9.1 Arctic -- 4.9.2 Antarctic -- 4.9.3 Summary of Sect. 4.9 -- References -- 5: Effects of Atmospheric Rivers -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 ARs and Orographic Precipitation -- 5.2.1 Precipitation Formation -- 5.2.2 Orographic Precipitation Enhancement -- 5.3 ARs, Floods and Water Resources -- 5.3.1 Flooding -- 5.3.2 Water Resources -- 5.4 Other Effects of ARs -- 5.4.1 Aquatic Ecosystems -- Estuarine Effects -- 5.4.2 Terrestrial Landscapes -- 5.4.3 Surface Winds -- 5.4.4 Coastal Sea Level -- 5.5 Regional Perspectives on AR Effects -- 5.5.1 North America -- 5.5.2 Europe -- 5.5.3 South America -- 5.5.4 New Zealand -- 5.5.5 Polar Regions -- Antarctica -- Arctic -- 5.6 Summary and Characteristics that Control AR Effects -- 5.6.1 Meteorological Characteristics -- IVT Rates -- IWV Amounts -- Rates of AR Translation Across the Landscape -- Air Temperature -- Atmospheric Stability -- Elevation of the AR Jet -- Barrier Jets -- 5.6.2 Land Characteristics -- Antecedent Conditions -- Terrain Characteristics -- Drainage Density -- Bedrock and Soil Type -- Land Use -- 5.6.3 Some Examples -- 5.7 Looking Forward -- References -- 6: Atmospheric River Modeling: Forecasts, Climate Simulations, and Climate Projections -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 Forecasting ARs -- 6.2.1 An Ingredient-Based Approach to Forecasting ARs -- 6.2.2 Evaluating Forecasts of Landfalling ARs -- 6.2.3 AR Analysis and Forecasting Tools -- 6.3 Simulating ARs -- 6.3.1 Regional Models -- 6.3.2 Global Models -- Evaluating Model Performance for AR Simulations Based on Payne and Magnusdottir (2015) -- 6.4 Climate Projections of ARs. , 6.5 Summary and Emerging Directions -- References -- 7: Applications of Knowledge and Predictions of Atmospheric Rivers -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 US Army Corps of Engineers: ARs and Flood Risk Management -- 7.2.1 A Case History -- 7.2.2 Real-World AR Issues -- Where Will the AR Strike? Stalls, Shifts, Trajectories, and Drainage Basins -- Forecasts or Observations? -- Drafting Floodwaters -- Flood Risks vs. Water Supply -- AR Seasonality -- Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) Estimates -- Forecast Improvements -- Next Steps -- 7.3 Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations, Lake Mendocino Pilot Study -- 7.4 ARs Use in Flood Planning in California -- 7.5 AR Science, Natural Hazards Risk Reduction, and ARkStorm -- 7.6 Scales That Communicate AR Intensity and Impacts -- 7.6.1 ECMWF's Extreme Forecast Index for Water Vapor Transport -- 7.6.2 A Scale for Atmospheric River Strength and Impacts -- References -- 8: The Future of Atmospheric River Research and Applications -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.1.1 F. Martin Ralph (Western US Weather Science -- Regional Water Applications Development) -- 8.1.2 Duane E. Waliser (Global Atmospheric Science -- Satellite and Reanalysis Applications) -- 8.1.3 Jonathan J. Rutz (Weather Forecast Improvement -- AR Detection) -- 8.1.4 Michael D. Dettinger (Hydrologic Science and Applications -- Climate Change Diagnostics) -- 8.2 Observational Gaps -- 8.2.1 Ground Based -- 8.2.2 Airborne Physical Process Studies -- 8.2.3 A Vision for AR Reconnaissance -- Proof of Concept: Data Collection -- Proof of Concept: Data Assimilation and Modeling -- Anticipated Outcomes of AR Recon Data, Modeling, and Assimilation -- Vision of Potential Operational Implementation of AR Recon -- 8.2.4 Satellite -- 8.2.5 Reanalyses: Evaluations and Gaps to Be Addressed to Support AR Science and Applications. , 8.3 Emerging Directions in AR Physical Processes Research -- 8.3.1 Polar Processes Associated with ARs -- 8.3.2 Atmospheric Water Budget and Moist Processes -- 8.3.3 Terrestrial Hydrology and Water Budget -- 8.4 Communicating and Applying AR Information -- 8.4.1 How AR Science Affects Operations in the US National Weather Service's Western Region -- 8.4.2 Communicating ARs to Broader Technical and Lay Communities -- 8.4.3 Developing New AR Forecast Methods and Displays -- 8.4.4 Intercomparisons of AR Tracking Methods -- 8.4.5 Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO) -- 8.5 Exploring Subseasonal-to-Seasonal (S2S) Prediction of ARs -- 8.5.1 Western Water Management Requests Improved Precipitation Outlooks -- 8.5.2 Large-Scale Processes/Short-Term Climate Variability that Modulate ARs -- 8.5.3 The Promise and Challenge of Creating S2S Precipitation Outlooks for the West -- 8.6 Concluding Remarks -- References -- Index.